This invention relates to the field of fire extinguishing equipment, and more particularly to a fire access port for a flammable material compartment through which fire extinguishing equipment may be inserted, from outside the compartment, to suppress a fire inside the compartment.
Flammable materials are commonly stored or processed in a compartment, locker, container, or shed. Volatiles such as paints, solvents, or chemicals, contained within such a compartment, are subject to accidental fires due to various causes. Typical causes can be spontaneous combustion, lightning strike, electrical short-circuit resulting in overheated wiring, or a carelessly discarded cigarette. Similarly, a vehicle engine, particularly on a boat, is typically housed within a compartment or box. The compartment isolates passengers from the noise, fumes, moving parts, heat, and fire hazard of the engine, and protects the engine from the weather. Despite precautions, engine fires sometimes break out. A fuel leak will spray flammable fuel on a hot engine, resulting in a fire.
Opening the flammable material compartment to fight the fire exposes the operator to heat, flames, and smoke. Opening the flammable material compartment also admits oxygen to feed the fire. A common expedient to fighting such a fire is to install a fire access port on the flammable material compartment. The fire access port typically is a disc of resilient material cut to form a flap or valve. Mounted on the compartment, the fire port is normally in a closed or sealed state. In the event of a fire, a fire extinguisher nozzle is thrust through the fire port, and the fire suppressant chemical is released, without opening the compartment.
Fire access ports are known and have assumed a number of embodiments in the past. Some examples of access ports in the prior art are revealed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
Thompson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,622, illustrates a fire port valve having a resilient flap, or stop, attached at the top, which is normally closed. The stop flexes inward, at the attachment, when the nozzle of a fire extinguisher is inserted through the fire port.
Stary, U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,572, discloses a fire access port with two cross slits through a resilient diaphragm. Pressure at the center will immediately permit the flaps of the diaphragm to yield, admitting the nozzle.
Baldwin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,031, shows a liquid dispenser and filling apparatus having a resilient sealing plunger sliding within a barrel. The plunger has a self-sealing cross-slit which is pushed open by a fill member in order to fill the barrel with liquid.
Draben, U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,508, illustrates a charging fitting for plastic molding apparatus. A resilient diaphragm with a cross-slit is pushed open by a nozzle to discharge liquid resin therethrough.
In installing a fire port, of the type described above, in a boat or on an outside locker or shed, it is desirable to seal the port against water entering, especially where the compartment is exposed to the weather. Conversely, it is desirable to seal the port against fumes escaping, especially where an engine compartment is inside a cabin. In none of the above-described inventions is the diaphragm positively sealed. In each case, the slit is completely through the diaphragm, so as to facilitate insertion of the nozzle. Such a slit is made with a knife-edge tool, requiring a secondary operation subsequent to molding, with resultant increased cost.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a fire port that is sealed positively against water entering the flammable material compartment.
There is a further need to provide a fire port of the type described and that is sealed positively against fumes and noise escaping the flammable material compartment.
There is yet a further need to provide a fire port of the type described and that will readily permit easy and rapid insertion of the fire extinguisher nozzle.
There is a still further need to provide a fire port of the type described and that will be ready to install right from molding, with no secondary operation, and hence can be economically manufactured in large numbers of high quality.
There is another need to provide a fire port of the type described and that is easy to use under emergency conditions in the field.
There is yet another need to provide a fire port of the type described and that is rugged in construction so as to provide reliable performance over an extended service life.